90 Degrees

I've abruptly turned 90 degrees in my writing.  I've broken through the issues I was having with my novel, and that was starting to move forward again, which I was pleased with--though I can't deny feeling more than a little silly in hoping that I'd have a draft done by the time I got to the states, or maybe the new year.  Yeah, not gonna happen, unless massive inspiration strikes and I get on a roll.  To be fair, I was hoping that would happen, not expecting.

But the main reason it's been put on hold is that a friend of mine was a dear and posted a call for submissions on her blog.  It's for Carina Press, which is the digital imprint of Harlequin.  They do in fact publish more than just romance--in fact, they'll publish most things, as long as it's not young adult, women's literature, poetry, non-fiction, or literary fiction (and possibly a couple of others).  Added bonus: Carina Press is also open submission and doesn't require an agent.

This call is specific, and asking for science fiction holiday stories for their 2012 holiday collection (not explicitly xmas, just holiday).  The deadline is mid-March, which I can make pretty easily, provided I can learn to write science fiction before then--the science fiction needs to be a central element, not just wedged in.  I can read science fiction and I like it well enough, but so far all my plot ideas have been stolen from Star Wars, Star Trek/Gene Roddenberry, Luc Besson, Robert Heinlein, Joss Whedon, and a few other random sources.  Being married to an astrophysicist isn't helpful here (though as Claudia says, at least my hard science won't be wrong).  The good news is that I think I've found a plot line of sorts.  The bad news is that I don't know what to do with it or how to make it science fictiony.  I'm thinking robots.*  We'll see.

*No, not really.  I hope.